1959 Ford Galaxie Skyliner

November 2015 - March 2019

I bought this Skyliner in November 2014 and decided (for the first time) to have her professionally restored, which turned into a nightmare, thanks to Chris Miranda and West Coast Auto Craft. I was looking for cars to trade my 1969 Continental Coupe for, and came across the Skyliner. Although he wasn't interested in trading, there were other buyers wanting the Skyliner so I made arrangements to see it the next day. The car was very complete and original, packed a 352 cid V8, the largest offered that year. I decided to buy it on the spot.

The Skyliner might look like a regular coupe with a long trunk, but it's actually a retractable hardtop! Unlike a convertible with a soft canvas top that folds, the Skyliner's trunk opens and the entire roof lifts up mechanically and sits in the trunk. It's a fairly complicated system that uses 13 switches, 10 solenoids, 9 circuit breakers, 5 motors and 610 feet of wire to operate. Okay, it's very complicated!

Chris Miranda West Coast Auto Craft Chris Miranda West Coast Auto Craft Chris Miranda WCACKnowing I had a complex, rare and also very collectible car, I contacted the folks over at West Coast Auto Craft about restoring her. After a phone call and crunching some numbers, Chris Miranda came out and picked up the Skyliner at the end of November 2014. I wrote him a check and also traded him my 1969 Continental coupe in exchange for shop time. BOY WAS I AN IDIOT.

Chris Miranda, and West Coast Auto Craft stripped the car to a bare shell in about 2 months. Suddenly, Chris stopped answering the phone, wouldn't return calls, and would only reply to a few text messages here and there. He refused to provide me with an invoice for almost 2 years!! Not like he did any more work in that time anyway... He also lied to my face about where my car was.

It turns out Chris Miranda is a con man. Not to mention a felon, but also a skilled con man. Apparently he was convincing all kinds of people to give him a classic car to restore, then not do any of the work. He would take the money, take the car, disassemble the car into a million pieces, and spend the money elsewhere. This has happened to lots of folks, and there is even a facebook page for "Victims of West Coast Auto Craft".

The Sonoma County District Attorney's Office filed a criminal case against Chris and in May 2017 he went to jail and WCAC shut down. After pleading to multiple felony counts, in November 2017, Chris Miranda was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

I picked up the Skyliner, which was still disassembled, starting to rust more, and was missing an estimated $13,000 in parts. I brought what was left of the car to Old Car Specialties in southern California, to try and salvage what was left of my dream. However, the nightmare continued, as no work was done on the car. The only"work" started was subcontracting an engine rebuild, to some guy who disappeared with the engine and transmission. Then Old Car Specialties went out of business and the Skyliner was put out in a tow company storage yard.

In May 2019, I decided to end things with the Skyliner. I picked it up, trailered it home, reassembled the exterior sheet metal and sold it for a painful fraction of what I had invested.